Fruit flies are a common household pest, but they can be awfully stubborn! So, it’s important to learn how to get rid of fruit flies once and for all.
These unwelcome visitors can linger for weeks and evade your traditional pest control options. So, you may have to resort to DIY fruit fly control methods.
We enlisted the help of professional domestic cleaners who know all the inside tips and tricks, and they shared their expert tips for getting rid of fruit flies.
Here’s everything you need to know about how to get rid of fruit flies for good!
Hey There, Bug Buster!
If you’re dealing with a fruit fly infestation, your first question might be, “how did these pesky things get in my house?”
What Attracts Fruit Flies?
To know how to get rid of fruit flies, it’s important to learn a little bit about the pests to begin with.
Fruit flies are persistent little bugs that are drawn to ripe or fermenting fruits and vegetables. That’s where they get the name “fruit fly” from.
Fruit flies have a keen sense of smell, and easily detect the odour of decaying organic matter. In fact, even a single neglected piece of fruit can become a breeding ground for fruit flies.
This is why fruit flies are most commonly found in the kitchen, lingering around fruit bowls, compost bins, rubbish cans, and pantries.
Having your own compost at home can be troublesome as it may attract fruit flies and become a genuine nuisance.
But the pests can also be drawn to any damp environment with traces of organic matter – like spills, mops, sponges, sinks, pipes, drains, or even houseplants!
So if you have a fruit fly infestation, it’s not necessarily because you’re messy or unclean. They’re just very persistent and can hide almost anywhere
Related reading: Best tips on How to Clean and Remove Stains from a Kitchen Sink
How to get rid of fruit flies
Now that we know what fruit flies are attracted to, you can take a preventative approach to avoiding an infestation with these easy cleaning hacks.
- If you live in a humid environment, try to store your fruits or vegetables in the fridge. Your produce is more likely to ripen and decay faster, which makes you a prime candidate for fruit flies!
- Make good use of airtight containers to stop fruit flies detecting the scent of your fruits and vegetables, or any other foods you leave out.
- Regularly and thoroughly deep clean your kitchen to make sure no fresh foods are going bad or mouldy.
- Wipe up spills as quickly as possible so they don’t become sticky or smelly.
- If you have a compost bin, make sure it’s airtight and no fruit flies can get in. Be sure to also adhere to best practices for composting so your scraps are properly breaking down.
- Deep clean your towels, sponges, mops, and other cleaning materials to ensure they’re not trapping traces of old food.
- Don’t over-water your house plants! This can cause the roots or leaves to rot, which will attract fruit flies.
- If you have pets, make sure you’re cleaning their bowls and beds so that no bits of food get dropped and attract fruit flies.
Guide to Creating Simple, Natural Traps for Pesky Fruit Flies
If fruit flies have already set up camp in your home, don’t worry!
It’s surprisingly easy to make homemade fruit fly traps that are simple, natural, and environmentally friendly.
Apple Cider Vinegar Trap
One popular and straightforward homemade fruit fly trap involves using apple cider vinegar – fruit flies are irresistibly attracted to the sweet, fermented scent of apple cider vinegar.
To create this trap, pour a small amount of apple cider vinegar into a shallow bowl or jar.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke a few small holes in it. The fruit flies will be drawn to the vinegar, enter through the holes, and get trapped inside.
You can add a drop of dish soap to the apple cider vinegar, to reduce the surface tension of the liquid. This causes the flies to sink and drown when they make contact.
Cleaning with white wine vinegar works well for this trick as well!
Ripe Fruit Trap
This is another masterful trap that uses fruit flies’ favourite food against them!
Grab a piece of overripe fruit, such as a banana or peach slice. Place the fruit in a jar and cover the opening with plastic wrap secured with a rubber band.
Poke small holes in the plastic wrap. The fruit flies will be lured by the aroma of the fruit, crawl through the holes, and become trapped inside the jar.
If you don’t have any fruit on hand, try using honey, jam, or another sweet, fruity substance.
So, now you know how to get rid of fruit flies like a pro. Hopefully, the pests will be out of your house in no time at all.
And if you need a helping hand, our expert Wecasa cleaners are just a few clicks away!
